Do You See the Person, or the Difference?

The problem is real, very real. Many people experience it constantly, not through open hostility, but through something softer. A passing comment, a polite assumption, a small remark that seems harmless yet quietly marks a difference. It is not always open prejudice, but a subtle form of othering, socially acceptable, almost invisible, and precisely for that reason it hurts so deeply.

It often sounds like this: “Where are you really from?”

These are not shouted insults. They are gentle signals of distance. They imply that before being seen as a person, you are first evaluated as “different.” Over time, these small remarks accumulate and form invisible lines between those who feel fully included and those who are politely kept at the edge.

This is not only a social issue. It is also a spiritual one. It reveals how easily we rank people by familiarity instead of recognising their equal dignity.

When we look at the message of Jesus in the Gospels, we see that he consistently confronted this exact tendency. He did not merely speak about love in abstract terms. He embodied it by deliberately crossing social, ethnic, and moral boundaries that people of his time carefully maintained.

He spoke with the Samaritan woman despite deep hostility between their groups.He praised the faith of a Roman centurion, a foreigner and outsider.He touched lepers who were considered untouchable.He ate with tax collectors and sinners who were socially rejected.

In each case, Jesus restored dignity where society had imposed distance. He saw individuals where others saw categories.

The parable of the Good Samaritan makes this unmistakable. The compassionate hero is precisely the one considered religiously and culturally “other.” Jesus forces his listeners to confront a difficult truth: goodness, compassion, and worth are not confined to those who belong to our group. The neighbour is not defined by similarity, but by shared humanity.

This message is deeply relevant today, not only in society at large, but also within religious communities. Ironically, those who follow a message of universal love can sometimes draw their own subtle lines. Distinctions are made between Christian and non-Christian, between one denomination and another, between those considered inside and those considered outside. At times, people may even speak or act as if others are less worthy, less enlightened, or less accepted by God.

Yet this attitude stands in tension with the example of Jesus. He never limited dignity to those who already believed like him. He welcomed seekers, doubters, foreigners, and those from different traditions. He responded to faith wherever he found it, even outside the expected religious boundaries. His interactions consistently showed that God’s compassion is not restricted to one label or one group.

A call is therefore needed, especially to religious believers, and particularly to Christians. If the core command of Jesus is to love our neighbour, then that love cannot stop at doctrinal lines or denominational identities. It must extend to every person, regardless of whether they share the same beliefs, background, or tradition.

True faith should enlarge the heart, not narrow it. It should increase humility, not superiority. It should lead to deeper empathy, not quiet judgement. When religious identity becomes a reason to distance ourselves from others, we risk contradicting the very message we claim to follow.

Jesus’ teaching invites believers to examine not only obvious prejudice, but also the subtle ways we mentally categorise people as “us” and “them.” The call is to see first a human being created with equal dignity, before seeing a label such as foreigner, outsider, or even non-believer.

This does not require abandoning convictions or beliefs. It requires holding them with humility and expressing them with love. It means recognising that every person’s journey is complex and that respect and compassion are always the appropriate starting point.

In a world where differences of culture, language, and belief are increasingly visible, the message of Jesus remains profoundly challenging. Dignity should not depend on similarity. Empathy should not stop at familiarity. Respect should not be reserved only for those who belong to our circle or share our faith.

To follow his teaching faithfully is to widen the circle of compassion. It is to ensure that our words, our attitudes, and even our small casual remarks reflect a deep and unwavering respect for every person. Only then do we truly live the radical simplicity of his command: to love our neighbour, not because they are like us, but because they are equally human and equally valued.